Published: 09:12, July 14, 2025
DPRK condemns US-Japan-ROK joint drill
By Xinhua

This handout photo taken on July 11, 2025 and provided by the Republic of Korea Defence Ministry shows US Air Force B-52H bombers (center), ROK Air Force KF-16 fighter jets (left) and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (right) flying in formation during a joint air drill over international waters off ROK's southern island of Jeju. (HANDOUT / ROK DEFENCE MINISTRY VIA AFP)

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) denounced a joint drill by the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea on Sunday, calling such trilateral military maneuver "main danger factors heightening the level of military tension on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity."

On Friday, the United States, Japan and ROK "waged a provocative tripartite joint air drill by mobilizing various kinds of combat bombers including the strategic bomber 'B-52H' in the sky over the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity," said the KCNA, citing a statement by the chief of the Policy Office of the Ministry of National Defence.

The military alliances between the United States and Japan and between the United States and ROK "have completely changed into a nuclear-based triangular military alliance," and the tripartite military cooperation being promoted in all spheres heralds the fact that "the long-running instability and tension on the Korean Peninsula can lead to an unpredictable phase of military confrontation at any moment," the statement added.

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It is the DPRK's sovereign right to take countermeasures against provocative military actions, such as the moves to strengthen the multilateral military alliance threatening the security of the region.